This invention relates in general to automated instruction and testing methods, and more particularly to a method for certifying a worker, at any of a plurality of test sites, to work at one or more of a plurality of work sites.
There has been an increased focus on training workers to do their jobs effectively and safely preliminary to doing the work for which they were hired. This kind of vocational education and certification is now required in many instances by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) to ensure safe work practices. There are basic safety practices which will be pertinent for a large variety of workplaces, particularly those of a single industry or a related group of industries, and then there are practices which will be peculiar to a particular plant or worksite and which relate to the exact work conditions, apparatus and processes obtaining at that site. The general, basic safety practices are conventionally given in a traditional classroom setting and are taught by human instructors. Specific, customized safety practices have conventionally been the job of safety personnel assigned to a particular plant or worksite.
Another recent trend is an increasing dependency by the industry on independent contractors rather than employees. These contractors are retained for relatively short periods by any one plant or workplace, and often work at several sites owned by different proprietors within a single year. Because different plants don""t typically share OSHA training programs or records, at the start of each work period at a work site, the contractor often has to be recertified. This has resulted in repetitious, unnecessary and expensive recertification procedures undertaken by each different plant proprietor of a single contractor during a year. Also, the plant proprietors are willing to let third party entities provide safety instructions to contractors and maintain the associated records.
Recently, in an attempt to address this problem, in the State of Texas a local group of manufacturing plants has federated into a Safety Council. This Safety Council is a nonprofit organization that provides a central facility for the instruction of contract workers who tend to circulate among the plants. A basic, instructor led safety course is given, and then the workers are put through a computer-generated, plant specific course for the facility at which they would like to work. Both courses conclude with a test which, if the worker passes, will certify the worker on safety requirements for a particular plant for a given, usually long period of time, such as a year or more. Each worker""s test results (typically simplified to whether the worker passed or has not yet passed a safety test for a particular facility) is stored in a database at the Safety Council. These test outcomes are accessible by each plant proprietor/member of the Safety Council, for the purpose of determining whether that contract worker is qualified to work at the plant in question. This arrangement obviates repetitive and unnecessary instruction and testing while still maintaining acceptable levels of worker safety knowledge.
While this Safety Council has been effective in providing a pooled safety program for a local group of plants, improvements could still be made with respect to geographic availability.
According to the present invention, a means of delivering the benefits of a safety council, including delivering site-specific training, and associated tests for each of a plurality of plants or work sites is provided, and a relational database is maintained that provides, for each of a plurality of plants or work sites, a set of specific questions relating to the safety of the plant. The site-specific training and tests can be delivered either by CD, LAN or WAN, such as the Internet. Each work site is owned or managed by a proprietor (typically a company or division) which determines minimum acceptable passing criteria for the test for that facility and which communicates these passing criteria to the database in one embodiment of the invention. It is preferred that the database be located at a central database facility.
A single or plurality of testing sites, such as community colleges, are each linked to the database by means such as a wide area network. In a preferred embodiment, this network is the Internet. In one embodiment of the invention, at each testing site there is a means for delivering both the basic OSHA instruction and plant site-specific training. The testing sites have a secure testing terminal at which prospective workers may receive instruction and, at the conclusion thereof, take a test relating to the basic OSHA course or a specific worksite. A test administrator associated with the test site verifies the identity of the prospective worker wishing to receive the instruction and take the test, and further ensures that the prospective worker is correctly identified. Software sets up the instruction course in advance for electronic instruction on the terminal and at the conclusion thereof administers the test. Preferably, the database generates in real time a test from a random selection of prestored questions. The database prompts the worker for answers to each of the test questions, compares them to the model answers, and determines if the responses are sufficiently matched to the model answers that, according to the standards predetermined by the work site management, the worker has passed the test. If this is the case, a xe2x80x9cpassxe2x80x9d indication is recorded in the database for that work site and that worker. This xe2x80x9cpassxe2x80x9d indication will typically be valid for a relatively long predetermined period of time, such as a year, before further instruction is required. The test results may be added manually, or automatically uploaded to the database.
In this way, remoteness of the prospective worker from the work site need not be an insurmountable problem. The worker can receive instruction in respect of a work site on the other side of the country or world near his or her present residence, receive certification and be ready to work upon arrival. This is also an aid to the plant or work site operator, as the available pool of certified labor is greatly expanded, reducing labor shortages and costs.
Preferably, the site-specific test and course is offered together with a separate, basic course which applies to all or many of the worksites. This basic course is preferably instructor-led and may be taken before the site-specific course. It is further preferred that the basic course test results be transmitted to and stored at the central relational database.